Bottling coming soon!

It's an exciting time of year and we are preparing for our next bottling - 5th March... you can expect these wines to be bottled then..
2011 Pinot Grigio
2011 Lagrein
2009 Passito
2011 Sangiovese
So all your di Lusso favourites will be available before Easter! Stay tuned for more details on these wines.

Will that be delivery or pick up?

“You know your pizzas are good when…………people fly in by helicopter for takeaway because the car park is full!

For the well heeled visitor, Mudgee Helicopters offers a rather different “pub crawl”..namely a four stop flight from their airport base to say Robert Stein and Robert Oatleys for morning tastings, di Lusso Estate for a pizza lunch and Windeyer pub for a sundowner.

These guests had just enjoyed fritto misto entrée and pollo alla cacciatore for lunch, and were looking forward to the prospect of a casual supper at home of Anchovy with Capers and a touch of cheese, Pizza Emilia – a prosciutto, garlic and parmesan topping, pizza antipasto – various Italian meats, sundried tomatoes, olives and mozzarella and a good old Italian Country Garden vegetarian pizza…washed down with a bottle of Vino Rosato, Vermentino and Sangiovese.

Cucina di Lusso offers Winetasting Lunches every weekend and public holiday…..and you get a free pizza with every half case of wine purchased at the cellar door!

Suggestions & improvements welcomed....Rob

A picture of di Lusso Estate’s smartest living thing!

Not me, unfortunately! Our five varieties of figs are gearing up for the start of their season – they advise me Wednesday the 15th February is the date. I love figs, not only for their marvelous taste as fresh fruit and amazing versatility in the kitchen, but for their smartness – there’s no other word for it! Not only do they keep producing new figs during a three month long season (cf wine grapes; one crop, with a season of less than a week!) but on our farm they’re the lowest maintenance thing of all – a couple of ‘shots’ of dynamic lifter, one spray of eco-oil (basically pyrethrum in canola oil), a good prune annually (halving the height) AND each tree carries its own insect controller, in the form of a ‘personal’ spider. A spider (don’t know it’s scientific name)that starts the season almost invisible, but grows to a round ‘blob’ the size of a 50 cent piece (excluding legs!) by the time the first frosts of May herald the end of the season. They’re not dangerous – just a little tingle as you bump into them on your daily picking sortie, making sure you keep your mouth shut tight!! Later on, I’ll show you a picture of one at season end!

PS It looks like being a very big harvest…just got to get it ripe

Rob

There’s Grappa, then there’s Poli Grappa!

In Northern Veneto is one of Italy’s most beautiful villages – Bossano del Grappa. It’s also the ancestral home of Grappa, and home to the world’s finest Grappa producer, Poli. In the town is an amazing Grappa museum, filled with massive copper stills, a two hundred year old production line, and whole range of Grappa styles for tasting and buying. Oh, and Poli Grappa tastes a smooth as silk - nothing like the gut-rot stuff so often offered at restaurants here. (if you refer to this post – and are over eighteen! – I’ll give you a sip from my Poli favourite!)

Chef Ali tells us the latest...

Summer is definitely here so our menu is reflecting this with delicious dishes to suit the warmer weather! Salads are popular such as our Italian coleslaw which includes fennel, radishes and red cabbage. In the pasta dishes I’m using a fresh smoked salmon instead of cooking it, for a summery taste. In the desserts, the Cassata - an Italian layered icecream cake is proving a hit, as is the refreshing Pannacotta with berries. I’m looking forward to the fig season coming up... and creating different fig salad and dessert dishes!

Latest news from our Winemaker Julia

Mostly we are doing work in the vineyard at the moment, with the weather being an interesting challenge! The berries are expanding and up to pea size – hard and green. The team are doing some canopy management; trimming and bunch thinning to create the necessary air flow.

In the winery we are looking after the reds, doing labs and keeping barrels topped. The exciting news is we are looking into some new equipment – a new tank and refrigeration system - to make our process even more streamlined and efficient!